Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust will acquire Wheeler Development

Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust Inc. said Monday that the company’s board has approved the acquisition, for nominal consideration, of Wheeler Development LLC, a company wholly-owned by Wheeler’s Chairman and CEO Jon S. Wheeler.

The company said in a statement that the deal will allow the Virginia Beach-based REIT to seek new potential opportunities in providing development services to current tenants or potentially third parties. It expects to integrate Wheeler Development into the REIT by Jan. 15.

Since going public a little more than a year ago, the REIT has focused on acquiring quality, grocery-anchored assets with a high occupancy rate and stable tenant base. “We felt that the greatest potential for additional upside was to bring on a development portion to the REIT, allowing our company to leverage our expertise in property selection and asset management …” Jon Wheeler said in a statement. “We feel that the inclusion of Wheeler Development into the REIT will provide an opportunity to bring a wide range of development services in-house, which we believe will add value to the company and therefore generate a higher level of return to our shareholders.”